Obama and the Debt Crisis

To lead us out of it, he will need to learn some new political skills.

By

Peggy Noonan

Updated June 3, 2011 6:56 p.m. ET

The debate in Washington is serious as a heart attack: whether the United States should raise its debt ceiling so it can borrow more money to stay afloat. The statutory ceiling on our national debt—our legal borrowing limit—is $14.3 trillion. That limit was reached, according to the Treasury Department, on May 16. Treasury says it can make do until early August, when the ceiling must be raised by $2.4 trillion.